A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Euclid preparation LVIII. Detecting extragalactic globular clusters in the Euclid survey
Authors: Urbano, M.; Romelli, E.; Raj, M. A.; Schirmer, M.; Tortora, C.; Abdurro’uf; Annibali, F.; Baes, M.; Boldrini, P.; Cabanac, R.; Carollo, D.; Conselice, C. J.; Duc, P.-A.; Ferguson, A. M. N.; Hunt, L. K.; Knapen, J. H.; Lonare, P.; Marleau, F. R.; Paolillo, M.; Poulain, M.; Sánchez-Janssen, R.; Sola, E.; Andreon, S.; Auricchio, N.; Baccigalupi, C.; Baldi, M.; Bardelli, S.; Bodendorf, C.; Bonino, D.; Branchini, E.; Brescia, M.; Brinchmann, J.; Camera, S.; Capobianco, V.; Carbone, C.; Carlberg, R. G.; Carretero, J.; Casas, S.; Castellano, M.; Castignani, G.; Cavuoti, S.; Cimatti, A.; Colodro-Conde, C.; Congedo, G.; Conversi, L.; Copin, Y.; Courbin, F.; Courtois, H. M.; Cropper, M.; Da Silva, A.; Degaudenzi, H.; De Lucia, G.; Di Giorgio, A. M.; Dinis, J.; Dubath, F.; Dupac, X.; Dusini, S.; Farina, M.; Farrens, S.; Ferriol, S.; Fotopoulou, S.; Frailis, M.; Franceschi, E.; Fumana, M.; Galeotta, S.; George, K.; Gillard, W.; Gillis, B.; Giocoli, C.; Gómez-Alvarez, P.; Grazian, A.; Grupp, F.; Haugan, S. V. H.; Hoekstra, H.; Holmes, W.; Hook, I.; Hormuth, F.; Hornstrup, A.; Jahnke, K.; Keihänen, E.; Kermiche, S.; Kiessling, A.; Kilbinger, M.; Kohley, R.; Kubik, B.; Kümmel, M.; Kunz, M.; Kurki-Suonio, H.; Laureijs, R.; Liebing, P.; Ligori, S.; Lilje, P. B.; Lindholm, V.; Lloro, I.; Maino, D.; Maiorano, E.; Mansutti, O.; Marggraf, O.; Markovic, K.; Martinelli, M.; Martinet, N.; Marulli, F.; Massey, R.; Maurogordato, S.; Medinaceli, E.; Mei, S.; Mellier, Y.; Meneghetti, M.; Merlin, E.; Meylan, G.; Moresco, M.; Moscardini, L.; Munari, E.; Nakajima, R.; Neissner, C.; Nichol, R. C.; Niemi, S.-M.; Nightingale, J. W.; Padilla, C.; Paltani, S.; Pasian, F.; Pedersen, K.; Pettorino, V.; Pires, S.; Polenta, G.; Poncet, M.; Popa, L. A.; Pozzetti, L.; Raison, F.; Rebolo, R.; Renzi, A.; Rhodes, J.; Riccio, G.; Roncarelli, M.; Rossetti, E.; Saglia, R.; Sakr, Z.; Sapone, D.; Sartoris, B.; Scaramella, R.; Schneider, P.; Schrabback, T.; Secroun, A.; Sefusatti, E.; Seidel, G.; Serrano, S.; Sirignano, C.; Sirri, G.; Stanco, L.; Steinwagner, J.; Surace, C.; Tallada-Crespí, P.; Teplitz, H. I.; Tereno, I.; Toledo-Moreo, R.; Torradeflot, F.; Tutusaus, I.; Valentijn, E. A.; Valenziano, L.; Vassallo, T.; Veropalumbo, A.; Wang, Y.; Weller, J.; Zamorani, G.; Zucca, E.; Biviano, A.; Bolzonella, M.; Bozzo, E.; Burigana, C.; Calabrese, M.; Di Ferdinando, D.; Escartin Vigo, J. A.; Farinelli, R.; Gracia-Carpio, J.; Mauri, N.; Scottez, V.; Tenti, M.; Viel, M.; Wiesmann, M.; Akrami, Y.; Allevato, V.; Anselmi, S.; Ballardini, M.; Bethermin, M.; Blanchard, A.; Blot, L.; Borgani, S.; Borlaff, A. S.; Bruton, S.; Calabro, A.; Canas-Herrera, G.; Cappi, A.; Carvalho, C. S.; Castro, T.; Chambers, K. C.; Contarini, S.; Cooray, A. R.; De Caro, B.; Desprez, G.; Díaz-Sánchez, A.; Di Domizio, S.; Dole, H.; Escoffier, S.; Ferrero, I.; Finelli, F.; Fornari, F.; Gabarra, L.; Ganga, K.; García-Bellido, J.; Gautard, V.; Gaztanaga, E.; Giacomini, F.; Gozaliasl, G.; Hall, A.; Hildebrandt, H.; Hjorth, J.; Ilbert, O.; Kajava, J. J. E.; Kansal, V.; Karagiannis, D.; Kirkpatrick, C. C.; Legrand, L.; Libet, G.; Loureiro, A.; Macias-Perez, J.; Maggio, G.; Magliocchetti, M.; Mannucci, F.; Maoli, R.; Martins, C. J. A. P.; Matthew, S.; Maurin, L.; Metcalf, R. B.; Monaco, P.; Moretti, C.; Morgante, G.; Walton, N. A.; Patrizii, L.; Euclid Collaboration
Publisher: EDP Sciences
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Journal name in source: Astronomy & Astrophysics
Article number: A251
Volume: 693
ISSN: 0004-6361
eISSN: 1432-0746
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202450851
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202450851
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/491414955
Extragalactic globular clusters (EGCs) are an abundant and powerful tracer of galaxy dynamics and formation, and their own formation and evolution is also a matter of extensive debate. The compact nature of globular clusters means that they are hard to spatially resolve and thus study outside the Local Group. In this work we have examined how well EGCs will be detectable in images from the Euclid telescope, using both simulated pre-launch images and the first early-release observations of the Fornax galaxy cluster. The Euclid Wide Survey will provide high-spatial resolution VIS imaging in the broad IE band as well as near-infrared photometry (YE, JE, and HE). We estimate that the 24 719 known galaxies within 100 Mpc in the footprint of the Euclid survey host around 830 000 EGCs of which about 350 000 are within the survey's detection limits. For about half of these EGCs, three infrared colours will be available as well. For any galaxy within 50 Mpc the brighter half of its GC luminosity function will be detectable by the Euclid Wide Survey. The detectability of EGCs is mainly driven by the residual surface brightness of their host galaxy. We find that an automated machine-learning EGC-classification method based on real Euclid data of the Fornax galaxy cluster provides an efficient method to generate high purity and high completeness GC candidate catalogues. We confirm that EGCs are spatially resolved compared to pure point sources in VIS images of Fornax. Our analysis of both simulated and first on-sky data show that Euclid will increase the number of GCs accessible with high-resolution imaging substantially compared to previous surveys, and will permit the study of GCs in the outskirts of their hosts. Euclid is unique in enabling systematic studies of EGCs in a spatially unbiased and homogeneous manner and is primed to improve our understanding of many understudied aspects of GC astrophysics.
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Funding information in the publication:
This work was supported in part by Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France) under grant ANR-19-CE31-0022, by project ‘INAF Exploration of Diffuse Galaxies with Euclid’ (INAF-EDGE, Italy, 2022, P.I. Leslie K. Hunt) and by grant ‘LEMON’ (INAF, Italy, 2022). The Euclid Consortium acknowledges the European Space Agency and a number of agencies and institutes that have supported the development of Euclid, in particular the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, the Austrian Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft funded through BMK, the Belgian Science Policy, the Canadian Euclid Consortium, the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt, the DTU Space and the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the Netherlandse Onderzoekschool Voor Astronomie, the Norwegian Space Agency, the Research Council of Finland, the Romanian Space Agency, the State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI) at the Swiss Space Office (SSO), and the United Kingdom Space Agency. A complete and detailed list is available on the Euclid website (http://www.euclid-ec.org). This work has made use of the Early Release Observations (ERO) data from the Euclid mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), 2024, https://doi.org/10.57780/esa-qmocze3. Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. JHK acknowledges grant PID2022-136505NB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and EU, ERDF.
